Equinox

Today is the autumnal equinox, the first day of autumn, and yesterday I read a "humorous" list on the internet of all the great things about autumn. The last item on the list, in all capital letters, said that all the insects would go back to Hell where they belong. Obviously an unenlightened person who doesn't realize that not only are most insects harmless, but many of them are beneficial. I don't imagine anything would change his mind (and he probably doesn't even think about butterflies when he makes such jokes), but I did feel a sort of pedantic smugness in knowing that he was so wrong. Not just that insects aren't all going to Hell, but that they're not going anywhere. The insects aren't going to just disappear because suddenly the seasons have changed. There are lots of insects that are active in the autumn. But what he has apparently never noticed is that there are insects to be found even in the winter. And the ones that are not active haven't gone away, they have just gone to ground, as it were. Some of them literally burrow into the ground, but mostly they just find somewhere sheltered to spend the winter months (well, obviously a lot of them do die, but it's because they have reached the end of their lifespan, and they have left eggs or larvae behind for next year). So that guy can wander around in his sweater, admiring the colorful leaves (which have just barely begun to change), enjoying the brisk air (which we haven't had yet), and not even know that he is surrounded by insects.

That all being said, there were not a lot of insects to be found in my backyard today. And those that were there were exceptionally uncooperative. It kind of seems like it was mostly spiders.

But first, an amphibian:

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Spittle bug

Other bugs:

 Hover fly

Hover fly

 White hickory tussock moth caterpillar

 Sawfly larvae

 Sawfly larva

 Katydid

 Candy striped leaf hopper

 Sweat bee

 Stink bug nymph

Female scorpion fly

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I spotted this crab spider, and it was clear that it had something held in its chelicarae, but it really looks like part of the leaf. I couldn't believe it would be eating a leaf, so I looked closer...

 Looks like a caterpillar, but it has mostly been sucked dry?

 I almost walked face-first right into this spider. Some kind of micrathena, I think.

Jumping spiders